Kevin Durant is officially a member of the Phoenix Suns. It’s not a late-night fever dream or some groggy, early-morning fantasy; on the first day under new owner Mat Ishbia, and about 14 hours away from the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline, the Suns swung arguably the biggest midseason trade not only in the history of this franchise, but the league itself. As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Suns will be receiving KD and T.J. Warren from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round draft picks and the rights to a first-round pick swap in 2028. All four first-rounders in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 are unprotected. https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1623564676066934785?s=20&t=getL3JXeKGRh02HFb_kjzQ A blockbuster trade of this…

It’s the dawn of a new era for the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury. Mat Ishbia was officially introduced as the new owner of both teams in a press conference Wednesday morning, addressing a number of topics in front of his family, team executives and employees, and media members. After introducing himself, his brother Justin and the rest of his family, Mat Ishbia answered a few questions from the media in attendance. From his approach the luxury tax to the Isiah Thomas rumors to his direction for both franchises, Ishbia gave a broad view of his vision for the Suns and Mercury moving forward. After the press conference, Ishbia sat down with PHNX Sports in an exclusive one-on-one interview to…

There is not a more controversial player in the NBA than Kyrie Irving, and Friday’s bombshell news only drove that point home further. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Brooklyn Nets star requested a trade, informing the team that is not moved before the Feb. 9 trade deadline, he will leave in free agency this summer. It didn’t take long for the Phoenix Suns’ name to come up, joining the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks as three leading suitors for Irving’s services: https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1621608256014540800?s=20&t=5dwCIZOMIrAZvnHI658kdg Normally, when a player averaging a 27-5-5 stat line requests a trade and a fanbase’s favorite team is listed as a possible suitor, the universal reaction is excitement. The response to Friday’s report was…mixed, to…

On Wednesday, the Phoenix Suns announced that they had waived Duane Washington Jr. from his two-way contract and would be signing Saben Lee to that slot. The response from the fanbase seemed to be split down the middle. On the one hand, Lee had been stealing Washington’s minutes since joining the team on two 10-day contracts. During a stretch where Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Cam Payne were all hurt, Phoenix badly needed steady guard play. Based on coach Monty Williams’ own words on the final day of Lee’s first 10-day, it was always trending in this direction. “James [Jones] and I talked about it yesterday, we like him,” Williams said. “I’m hopeful to keep him around, just ’cause he…

Welcome to Part 2 of the Phoenix Suns Trade Deadline primer! In Part 1 on Monday, we covered tons of ambitious, realistic and last-resort trade targets for the Suns to consider ahead of the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline. Trading Jae Crowder is obviously a must, and addressing needs like ball-handling, shot creation and size/rebounding at the 4 would be helpful too. Today, we’re building off that with more “out of the box” trades, including some crazy three-team deals that might test your sanity and push your Suns fandom to the brink. Enjoy, and as always, follow the ground rules: Be kind, remember that this is a thought exercise, and if you don’t like a trade, make a better one yourself…

It wasn’t long ago that uttering the name Chris Paul prompted premature declarations of “washed” among the Phoenix Suns fanbase. Now, it appears as though the Point God has risen again. It took a little longer than three days, but CP3 looks more like himself since returning from a right hip injury that sidelined him for just over two weeks. Mikal Bridges dominated Phoenix’s 114-106 win against the Toronto Raptors with a scorching first half and a pair of big late-game buckets, but Paul’s steady hand helped guide the Suns in crunch-time. Paul drilled a massive 3-pointer off Torrey Craig’s offensive rebound to put the Suns up by 4 points with 1:30 to go, and he made four free throws…

There haven’t been this many Phoenix Suns trade rumors out in the open during James Jones’ tenure since…well, quite possibly ever. The trade buzz reached a fever pitch over the summer with Kevin Durant, but over the last few weeks, name after name has come up in conjunction with the Suns. That’s reassuring news for a fanbase waiting for resolution on the Jae Crowder front. Trading his $10.2 million expiring salary somewhere before the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline on Feb. 9 is a top item on Mat Ishbia’s checklist, and it’s no secret the Suns could use some help in a few key areas: ball-handling in the backcourt, shot creation in general, and rebounding/size at the 4-spot. Trading for a…

Against the Indiana Pacers last Saturday, Bismack Biyombo became just the 103rd player in NBA history to record 1,000 blocks for his career. It was a milestone that came and went with little fanfare, but his Phoenix Suns teammates were well aware of its significance. “I kept yelling ‘2,000’ from the bench,” Jock Landale said. “‘Cause he just got that 1,000 career blocks, and I was like, ‘He’s going for 2,000 now!’” Cam Johnson, meanwhile, couldn’t help but get a dig in. “Well, you gotta subtract one of them, because here a couple of years ago, I went up for a layup and he blocked it, but it was goaltending and they didn’t call it,” Johnson joked. “So in my…

The Phoenix Suns will have a new owner soon in Mat Ishbia, and his potential arrival couldn’t come at a more opportune moment. The NBA’s shocking investigative findings on former owner Robert Sarver couldn’t be further juxtaposed from the current state of the team. Although injuries have led to recent skids, the Suns are led by a top-10 superstar in Devin Booker, possess young cornerstones in Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton and Cam Johnson, employ the 2020-21 Executive of the Year in James Jones and 2021-22 Coach of the Year in Monty Williams, and have both a current and long-term window to contend. Throw in a state-of-the-art practice facility, an arena that just underwent some snazzy renovations, assets like tradable salaries…